Medicine: Patching

Among topics discussed at the Southern Medical Association, which
met in Oklahoma City last week, were three interesting means of
patching damaged human bodies:

Fingers-from Toes. Dr. Herbert van
Heekeren Thatcher of Portland, Ore., told his colleagues how he mends
severed finger tendons without impairing the grasping function of the
hand. First he slips a stainless steel rod, three-sevenths of an inch in
diameter and curved to fit the natural bend of the finger, into the narrow
sheath which encloses the torn tendon.